Award Rationale Esfahk Historic Village in Iran
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Award Rationale Esfahk Historic Village in Iran Klaus Betz On behalf of Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e.V. November 2019 Contents Maps [1] 1. Introduction [2] 2. Backround [2] 3. The Project Esfahk Historic Village [3] 4. Evaluation Against the TO DO Award Criteria [5] 5. Conclusion and Comments [9] Project Location of Esfahk Historic Village Source: Google Maps Source: Google Maps 1 “Then let us turn what was bad into something good!“ 1 INTRODUCTION The application for the TO DO Award 2020 was submitted by the village council of Esfahk and refers to the original Esfahk Historic Village. On the basis of the documents submitted, the application was nominated by the TO DO Award jury. From 6th to 15th November 2019, expert Klaus Betz travelled in Iran on behalf of the Institute for Tourism and Development (Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e. V.) in order to evaluate Esfahk Historic Village on location. The village of Esfahk (also spelt Esfahak) with a population of 800 inhabitants is situated at an altitude of 1,100 m, along the national road 68, not far from the district capital of Tabas City in South Khorasan Province in the East of Iran. The small oasis village with its date palm grove and irrigated gardens and fields all around is situated in or rather on the edge of the Parvedeh salt desert/salt steppe, with the rocky “camel mountains“ at its back. Their highest elevation is the Jamal peak (”the beautiful one”, “the handsome one“), rising to an altitude of about 3,000 metres. There are two Esfahks, one situated next to the other. The reason: In South Khorasan in 1978, a devastating earthquake destroyed most of the mudbrick buildings in the old, original village and brought a lot of distress to the community (see chapter 3). Since then, there has been the newly rebuilt Esfahk, constructed by using more solid materials (stone/concrete), as a regular residence for the inhabitants. But next to it, at a distance of 200 metres, there is the partly restored Esfahk Historic Village, amidst destroyed adobe buildings. With about 3,500 domestic and international visitors annually, it is a highly noteworthy cultural, historic, architectural, touristic, and socio-political gem. On the basis of his insights and findings, the author recommends awarding Esfahk Historic Village with the TO DO Award 2020. 2 BACKGROUND AND SETTING In contrast to the current political situation in and around Iran, at the time of the author’s research in the country there was less political tension to be felt, but rather the manifold worries in the daily lives of the Iranian people (inflation, rent, unemployment). The average monthly income has been 350 to 450 euros. While the sanctions in place have a major influence on the economic situation in Iran (with a population of 82 million the second largest economy in the region), the domestic economy does not seem to be affected – superficially. However, within four years the exchange rate of the euro to the Iranian rial or toman1 changed dramatically from 1:3 to 1:12. As a consequence, even textile imports from low-wage countries such as Bangladesh or China have become too expensive, which has, for instance, led to a revitalisation of the Iranian textile industry.2 Despite all the trade restrictions in place, high-tech devices (also by US American brands) or the related software are not necessarily scarce. After all, the Islamic Republic of Iran is surrounded by seven neighbouring countries where exchange is possible by some means or other, or where Iranians can travel. Mobile network coverage is largely on a par with European standards. The same applies to internet access (except for certain photo and film portals), if it is not temporarily suspended entirely. For example, from 15th November 2019 in response to unrest after a hike in petrol prices. Iran has a high level of education throughout the country. About 4.8 million students are currently enrolled in public and private universities, almost 46 percent of them being women. 1 Toman is the name of the old Persian currency. Ten rial are usually called one toman. 2 Deutschlandfunk, 13/01/2020 2 Irrespective of above mentioned, the existence of the “Sepah“ (also called Revolutionary Guard or Pasdaran) affects almost all spheres of Iranian society.3 And the Iranian economy is mainly (70 to 80 percent) in the hands of the state and/or religious foundations. In 2018, the gross domestic product was 452 billion US dollars (Germany: 3,951 billion US dollars). In 2012, it still was 490 billion US dollars. The most important economic sectors in Iran include the oil, gas, and petrochemicals industries, automobile manufacturing, agriculture, and the metal processing industry. According to official data, the rate of unemployment in the last Iranian year was 12.1 percent, youth unemployment (15 – 29 years) 25.3 percent. Every year, the workforce increases by one million people entering the labour market, according to country information provided by the German Foreign Office. And yet Tehran’s stock market index “Tedpix“ keeps climbing to ever new heights. Only seemingly a paradox. Whoever has savings and does not immediately invest in material assets will rather invest in Iranian shares instead of depositing the money with a local bank – given the soaring inflation of 40 to 45 percent and interests on savings of only 15 percent.4 As compared to the almost euphoric surge in tourism after the nuclear deal of 2015 (from which the USA has withdrawn in the meantime) and hopes that the country would become increasingly open, the booming tourism from Western countries has entered a phase of stagnation. Currently there are only two Western European Airlines serving the Iranian capital. It remains to be seen whether the fact that a Ukrainian passenger aircraft was shot down unintentionally on 8th January 2020 will be of further consequences.5 While Iran has remained a very interesting country in terms of its cultural history, without tourist rip-off, with a very hospitable population, and while more hotels have been built and an electronic or digital visa (without stamp in the passport) has made immigration and emigration far easier, many people in Western countries remain sceptical and stay away from Iran. The significant volume of domestic Iranian tourism would be sufficient for the country, if it wasn’t for the major economic need to generate foreign exchange (and for the Iranian population’s need to meet and talk with foreign visitors). After all, about 60 percent of the population annually travel within Iran: on business, for leisure, or on pilgrimages. The respective infrastructure (road network, bus, rail and domestic flight connections) caters to these travellers. With a population of 2.5 million, the religious centre of Mashhad (also: Mashad or Meshad) is the country’s second biggest city, receiving up to 25 million pilgrims per year. The reason: The 8th Shia Imam (who died in 818) is buried in Mashhad.6 The grave or shrine of Imam Reza (Alī ibn Mūsā ar-Ridā) is considered the most important Shia pilgrimage site in Iran. Summing it up, the crux of the matter may be the fact that the views one can get of the country from the inside while travelling in Iran will always be overshadowed by the outside view of the political realities of the country. The same applies to an Iran-specific simultaneousness which is difficult to convey. It refers to the strict distinction between the ways in which people have to appear in public and their free individual space in the private sphere. There is an increasing pressure from within the population to change this. 3 ESFAHK HISTORIC VILLAGE 3.1 History and Objectives At the beginning, it was a disaster that was behind the history of today’s Esfahk Historic Village,7 triggered th by the earthquake of 16 September 1978. The tectonic tremors at that time not only destroyed the „garden 3 As at mid-January 2020 4 Deutschlandfunk, 13/01/2020 5 After writing this award rationale, the two remaining Western European airlines, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, for the meantime suspended their flights to Tehran until end of March 2020. 6 https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BFAl%C4%AB_ibn_M%C5%ABs%C4%81_ar-Rid%C4%81 7 https://www.instagram.com/esfahk_tourism/ 3 city“ of Tabas, the centre of the region, almost entirely (In the meantime it has been rebuilt). It also destroyed another 40 villages in the vicinity and larger periphery (with a death toll of 22,000), including the oasis village of Esfahk. However, its adobe buildings which had collapsed have never been razed to the ground. Today’s mayor and former headmaster of Esfahk’s school, Hamid Hosseini-Moghaddam (53), was trapped under the rubble at the age of eleven, but could eventually be rescued after four hours. Unlike him, his former student Mohsen Mahdizadeh (34), born in 1986 in Esfahk and now team leader of village committee of Esfahk Historic Village, only knows about the tragedy of his birth place from his parents’ and grandparents’ accounts and descriptions. The same applies to all his team colleagues of his age. Another aspect is that the whole district around Tabas – seen from Tehran – has been regarded as a rather unimportant and remote region – as compared to important places such as Mashad, Qom, Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, Kerman, or Bandar Abbas. This has had advantages and disadvantages. For more than three decades, the young generation born after the earthquake did not see any perspective for themselves in Esfahk and moved away for the time being.